STORE

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

YEAH, YOU WANNA PREVIEW THE LATEST FROM JITS MAG.

It's not that we're lazy. OK. It is that we're lazy, but that's not entirely the point. Whenever our compadres at Jits Magazine offer us a preview of the latest from their publication, we all win. You get to see what you may be missing by not subscribing to one of the sports best publication and we get to keep our writing to a minimum, while mocking our friend's magazine covers with our moronic "sense of humor." Or, "humour" for our Canadian and UK readers.

Check out an excerpt from an excellent piece written by David Abbou on the always intriguing BJJ subject that is Mario Sperry. And, to subscribe to Jits Mag, go HERE.

Talking the talk and Walking the Walk: Mario Sperry Still Loves the Thrill of Coaching and Competing

By David Abbou

No stranger to controversy, Mario Sperry has always followed his heart and spoken his mind throughout his esteemed BJJ and MMA careers, both as a competitor and coach. After all, it was the “Zen Machine” along with fellow Carlson Gracie black belts Ricardo Liborio, Murilo Bustamante and “Bebeo” Duarte who left the famous “Arrebentacao” team to start the famed Brazilian Top Team (BTT) which enjoyed great success on the biggest stages in MMA between 2000 and 2007.

Last summer, Sperry took on a new challenge as Head Coach of The Blackzilians MMA team in Florida, which at the time included top ranked fighters such as Rashad Evans, Alistair Overeem, and Eddie Alvarez. Unfortunately the partnership did not last long, as Sperry returned to Brazil to tend to his gym and other businesses. But Sperry says he will always reflect fondly on the opportunity to work with such gifted athletes.

“I am going to miss everyone in Florida,” explains the fifth-degree BJJ black belt, who became the first person to submit a Gracie when he defeated Royler Gracie in 1998. “I do have a gym in Brazil. Nevertheless, I came back to take care of my main business – I represent a foreign, off shore helicopter company in Brazil. They (The Blackzilians) have so many talents from different countries and different styles, training on the same mat. It was an everyday learning opportunity for me. I learned a lot of techniques from their unique styles. I had access not just to techniques, but also to diverse ways of training. So my knowledge on how to apply specific training over a planned strategy increased drastically. And that is what I love to do: create strategies and training plans.”

Sperry enjoyed a successful MMA career and competed in PRIDE FC alongside his BTT pupils, the Nogueira brothers, Paulo Filho, Ricardo Arona and Bustamante, so he knows, first-hand, the adaptation that a gifted BJJ athlete must make in order to garner success in MMA.